The stubbornly enduring movement to restore the once-magnificent Hetch Hetchy Valley received a cold dousing Wednesday from the two irrigation districts that would likely have to deal with the enormous amounts of water that would be released if the valley's O'Shaughnessy Dam were removed.

The Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts, which jointly own the Don Pedro Reservoir downstream from Hetch Hetchy, issued a statement declaring that there is no more storage available and criticizing the instigator of the campaign, Restore Hetch Hetchy, for "misleading statements and cavalier disregard for the facts."

"Recent attempts by Restore Hetch Hetchy to link the relicensing of the Don Pedro Project with the Hetch Hetchy System require that the districts publicly address the issue," wrote Allen Short, the Modesto district general manager, and Casey Hashimoto, the Turlock district general manager.

"It does not make sense to the districts that a water-short state that desires to reduce its carbon footprint would seriously entertain the idea of removing a 360,000 acre-foot storage reservoir," the statement said.

Mike Marshall, executive director of Restore Hetch Hetchy, has said the Tuolumne River, not the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, is the legal source of San Francisco's water. He has suggested that it would be feasible to tap the Tuolumne downstream, partly by enlarging the Don Pedro dam.

The group is asking the commission to examine alternatives to leaving O'Shaughnessy Dam in place. One alternative it specifically suggests is the proposal to increase storage at Don Pedro to collect Hetch Hetchy water.

"Restore Hetch Hetchy is offering 21st century solutions that increase water supplies and water quality for folks in San Francisco without harming the interests of the farmers in the San Joaquin Valley," Marshall said. "The reward for implementing these reforms will be a restored Yosemite National Park. How is that a bad thing?"

Marshall said he expects to have the 7,500 signatures he needs to put the issue on the ballot by next week, giving San Franciscans a chance to vote on the idea in November.

The Raker Act, passed in 1913, allowed San Francisco to build O'Shaughnessy Dam in 1923 and submerge Hetch Hetchy Valley, in Yosemite National Park, under 300 feet of Tuolumne River water. Famed naturalist John Muir vehemently opposed the dam a century ago.

Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River (Sacramento County), recently called for the removal of the dam, but it will be a tall order. Opponents include two of California's most powerful Democrats, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both residents of San Francisco, along with city and business leaders.

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which supplies water from Hetch Hetchy to 2.5 million customers in the city, Peninsula and South Bay, has declared repeatedly that it has no intention of removing the dam.

Removing the dam would not only eliminate San Francisco's supply of crystal-clear drinking water, it would mean the loss of 1.6 billion kilowatt hours per year of electricity, according to utilities commission officials. That's enough to power San Francisco's municipal facilities and infrastructure, including City Hall, Muni, the airport, all street lights and port facilities.

Short and Hashimoto contend in their memo that Don Pedro and Hetch Hetchy are two separate projects "and there is no surplus water or storage available." They acknowledge, however, that because San Francisco financed almost half of the cost of building Don Pedro Dam in 1971, it is allowed to release water from upstream and use their facilities as a "water bank."

Ruth Porter, a Washington, D.C., lawyer representing Restore Hetch Hetchy, said the water banking arrangement effectively gives San Francisco the rights to approximately one third of the Don Pedro project's water storage. Consequently, FERC should be able to make them increase storage there, Porter said.

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